Since the Beginning
by blaineisthehugestcockslut
Summary: Blaine has been best friends with Kurt ever since he was seven and met him through his older sister, Rachel. He's been able to tell him everything... Except that he's been in love with him since his freshman year.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: Yeah, I know I have like a gazillion (huge exaggeration, but it feels like it) WIP's going on right now. I am trying my hardest to update all of them, but I got started with this on tumblr and have just been sucked in by it. Huge thanks to Gaelen (peevesthepoltergeist on tumblr) who gave me the story prompt and kinda spread word for this! This is an AU where Rachel and Blaine are siblings, aka Anderberry AU as they've been called a lot. The first three to five chapters will be snippets of them growing up, until Blaine's junior year / Kurt's senior year. The rating will also probably go up in the future, but for now, it'll stay at T. And. Yeah. That's about it. Enjoy~_

Blaine blinked back tears as he fell down, the dirt wet from last nights storm. He instantly felt the mud seep into his clothing, and he bit his lip as the kids above him laughed at him.

"Go play dolls with your sister again, only real boys play football with us," the tallest one told him, a toothy grin present on his lips. Blaine could only get up and ball his fists up as he ran, away from the little trail, and back into the comforting confines of his house's fence.

"Yeah, go play with your little dolls!"

"Look guys, he wet himself."

"Little Anderberry wet himself."

"Stupid little fag."

The last comment made him only more upset, and he frantically twisted the doorknob to his front door in hopes that it was unlocked. After a couple of seconds of not opening, Blaine realized he had been turning the door knob the wrong way, and fell down as the door swung open at the force of his last turn.

More laughter rang from the road outside, and he slammed the door shut in hopes that it would shut them up. It helped muffle them, but he could still hear them shouting out insults and laughing at him.

Sniffling, he took the steps upstairs two at a time, looking for his older sister. His daddies were currently out at the grocery store, and had hired a sitter to look over them for those thirty minutes they'd be out. He had caught a glimpse of the sixteen year old girl that was introduced to him as Shannon when he had fallen on his face, but from what he saw, she was glued to the phone talking about someone named Slut and how she liked sucking on stuff. Blaine could only sum it up to there being a person named Slut who liked sucking on Tootsie Roll Pops; who didn't?

Reaching the top of the stairs, he immediately made a bee line for Rachel's room. Opening the door, he saw his sister on the rug playing with dolls. He was close to just throwing himself at her, but then he noticed him.

Rachel wasn't alone. A little boy sat in front of her, studying the clothing on one of Rachel's doll. He was probably Rachel's classmate, Blaine thought to himself as he stood in the doorway awkwardly. The boy had pale skin, paler than Blaine's papa, who was pretty pale compared to his daddy. His brown hair wasn't long, but it wasn't short either, and it was a nice brown colour that reminded Blaine of the living room table his papa had bought the other day. Mahawgoney or something like that. And his eyes. Blaine couldn't help but be surprised when he saw his eyes. They were a bright blue colour. Like the ocean, he quickly noted.

He's pretty, Blaine thought. Really pretty.

"-God, Blaine! Blaine? Blaine, are you listening to me?"

Blinking, Blaine looked at his older sister, who was now standing up, her hands at her hips.

"W-what? Sorry Rach, I didn't hear you," He mumbled, and Rachel let out a huff of breath, blowing her long brown hair out of her face.

"I asked you why you're all muddy and dirty. It's icky," She told him, before wrinkling her nose. "Blaine, were you trying to play with Roger down the street again?"

Blaine could only look down at the ground. Rachel let out a small sigh.

"Daddy and papa told you that you couldn't play with them. They're mean to you."

"I'm sorry."

Rachel just looked down at her dolls, before realizing that their was still a guest in the room. She brightened up, and grinned.

"Maybe you can play with me and Kurt! He just moved in down the street with his daddy, and came over to play," Rachel said, jumping up and down while clapping.

Kurt. Blaine repeated the name again, and was glad to have a name to put on the face. It was a pretty name. Kurt.

"Sure," Blaine said quietly, before turning to Kurt.

"Hi, I'm Blaine."

The little boy stood up, and smiled weakly.

"I'm Kurt."

Rachel immediately grinned, and took Blaine's hand.

"Come on, we were just about to play house!" She said before sitting down, tugging Blaine along with her. She instantly picked up the two boy dolls she had, one black, one white. Kurt and Blaine both watched as she stood them up and pronounced them husband and husband.

"Kurt, should they have a little baby boy or baby girl?" She asked, distracted as she concentrated on making the two dolls dance together.

"Uh, a baby girl," Kurt replied, watching her struggle to make the dolls dance gracefully. Soon though, she just gave up on the idea and stuck them together and sort of just moved them around on the rug in circles.

"Blaine, come up with a name for the girl," Rachel said, as the dolls kept 'dancing', and she reached blindly next to her to pick up a girl doll. Blaine just looked at her, and looked over at the pile of dolls that she was rummaging through. Once he saw the one she picked, he immediately knew what he would name her.

"Elizabeth," He said with a grin, and she beamed.

"That's a lot better than what you gave me last week. Kurt, can you believe he wanted me to name a little girl Butter?" Rachel said with a giggle, before turning to Kurt. She frowned slightly, and put down the dolls.

"Kurt, you ok?" She asked, and Blaine looked over at Rachel's new friend. He was frowning, and his eyes were getting watery. Blaine could feel his heart pound against his chest; what did he do to make him so sad?

"Yeah, I'm ok," Kurt mumbled, before blinking his eyes a few times and wiping at his nose with his hand. Rachel pouted.

"No, you're not ok," She pointed out, and Kurt pulled his knees up to his chest. Blaine watched him as his cheeks became pink, and looked at Rachel.

"Leave him alone Rach," He told his sister, and Rachel looked over at him, ready to argue. He just shook his head, and put his arms against his chest. She immediately scowled at him, before looking back at the dolls. Blaine happily averted his gaze back to the dolls too, giving Kurt space.

It was silent for a few moments, aside from the soft sniffs Kurt did periodically. Just as Blaine was about to tell Kurt he liked his cardigan, Rachel opened her mouth.

"You know, I think we should go downstairs. I think daddy and papa are gonna be home soon, and Shannon is doing who knows what," Rachel declared as she stood up quickly. She skipped out of the room, whistling the tune to "Funny Girl". Blaine got up, and looked down at the floor. He was glad he ended up sitting on the wood part of the floor, because papa would have gotten a bit sad over Rachel's pink rug getting so dirty.

He was about to walk out of the room after Rachel, but he realized Kurt was still sitting on the floor, looking at the doll Blaine had named Elizabeth. He walked back over to him, and smiled nervously at him.

"Come on Kurt, Rach is really bossy when she doesn't get her way," Blaine told him, before sticking out his hand. Kurt looked up slightly with a small smile, and took Blaine's hand as he got up. His blue eyes weren't as shiny as they had been before, and his face was slowly losing the pink tint it had before.

"I know, she insisted I come in and play with her. When my dad said it was ok she dragged me here," Kurt told him, and Blaine laughed.

"Sounds like Rache-" Blaine started to say, before Rachel's voice traveled up the staircase.

"Blaine, get down here, daddy and papa are back!" Rachel called out from the bottom of the stairs, and Blaine looked over at Kurt.

"Come on, you can meet daddy and papa. If we're lucky, they might give us some snacks," Blaine told Kurt, and Kurt brightened up a bit. He nodded, and tugged on Blaine's hand as he walked out of the room. Blaine let Kurt drag him down the steps and to the front door, where his daddy and papa were coming in with bags of groceries and talking to Shannon.

"Yeah, they were like little ange-" Shannon was telling them, but stopped short when she saw the state of Blaine's clothes. Blaine looked down at himself, and realized he hadn't changed out of the dirty, wet clothes had had on.

"I tripped and fell outside daddy," Blaine explained, and his papa wrinkled his nose.

"You ok buddy?" He asked, putting aside the groceries on the small table next to the door and kneeling down to examine just how badly ruined his son's clothes were. Blaine nodded.

"Yep! And me and Rachel made a new friend today, Kurt," Blaine said, stepping aside slightly so they could see all of Kurt. His papa smiled, and held out his hand.

"I know, we were just talking with his daddy," He said, and Kurt hesitantly held out his hand that wasn't entrapped in Blaine's. Blaine watched his papa shake it gently, before standing up. Blaine's daddy closed the door as Shannon left, and handed his bags to his husband as he put the keys on the hook.

"I hope you like grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup Kurt," he said with a gentle smile. "Your dad said it'd be fine if you stayed for lunch."

Kurt nodded, and looked down at his feet.

"Thank you sir," Kurt said politely, and Blaine's daddy just continued to smile before squeezing Kurt's shoulder and picking up the bags on the table on his way to the kitchen. Kurt looked up as Rachel skipped over to them, a microphone in hand.

"They like you," She stated, before handing the microphone to Kurt. "I hope you like to sing Kurt, because we're going to play karaoke while my daddies get lunch ready. You can use my sparkly pink on today only because you're a guest and papa said I need to be nice to my guests."

Kurt looked down at the pink, bedazzled microphone in confusion, and Blaine just leaned towards him slightly before whispering into his ear, "I told you she was bossy."

This made Kurt laugh, and Rachel took that as a confirmation. She started walking back to the family room, before looking over her shoulder.

"Blaine, that means you too. You'll just have to clap for me and Kurt," She told her little brother, and this made Kurt laugh even more. Blaine could only smile. Kurt's laugh was really pretty, Blaine decided. Like the rest of him.

Blaine followed Rachel back to the family room, swinging his arm back and forth, forcing Kurt to do the same, since they were still holding hands. This made Blaine laugh, and he began to hum the tune the twelve dwarfs did when they began walking back home after a long day of work from the movie Snow White. Kurt looked over at Blaine, surprised, before he began to hum the tune along with him.

When they reached the family room, Rachel was running around, rearranging the chairs, and setting Blaine's toys and stuffed animals on them. She took Blaine by the hand and sat him down next to Mr. Wuffles and Velvet, before taking Kurt's hand and leading him to the front of the room.

Blaine's hand suddenly felt lonely without the feeling of Kurt's hand holding them, but he soon decided it was worth it when he heard Kurt start to sing 'Part of Your World' from Ariel (The Little Mermaid) with Rachel. Yep, he thought to himself as Kurt sang the closing notes to the song. Totally worth it.

* * *

><p>Blaine opened the door slowly, wary of the warning Kurt's daddy had given him on how Kurt might be a bit mean at first. He had heard Kurt crying since he had been upstairs talking to his daddy with Kurt's daddy, and had been itching to go cheer his friend up. It was only after his daddy had made sure Blaine wouldn't push Kurt too hard if he didn't want to talk that he was finally let loose. He went down the steps two at a time, ignoring Kurt's repeated 'go away' and 'get out's that he managed to croak out in between his crying.<p>

"I said go awa-" Kurt shouted, a tissue box sitting next to him, his knees bent up to his chest as he let tears fall down his face freely. He stopped short when he saw that it wasn't his dad this time, and he couldn't figure out if he was sad, mad, or happy that Blaine was there.

"Hi," Blaine said quietly, standing awkwardly at the end of the steps. After a few seconds of neither one of them saying anything, he made his way over to Kurt's bed and sat down next to the tidy and small pile of tissues on top of a sheet of paper. Kurt must be really sad if he didn't care enough to throw the tissues out, Blaine thought, but not too sad if he thought to keep his bed clean.

"Go away," Kurt said weakly. He had stopped crying loudly, but the tears still streamed down his face as he looked at something in front of his feet. Brows furrowed, Blaine looked to see a picture of a much younger Kurt and a really pretty lady laughing and smiling at the camera, with Kurt on a swing and the lady pushing him. Her hair was a much darker brown, but her eyes matched Kurt's exactly. And they had the same nose. That must be Kurt's mommy, Blaine thought.

"Is... Is that your mommy?" He asked hesitantly, and Kurt whipped his head to Blaine, before looking back at the photograph he had in front of him. He instantly flipped it onto its back, showing off the back of the frame.

"K-Kurt?" Blaine asked, and Kurt began to cry loudly. Even louder than he had been when Blaine had opened the door. Quickly, Blaine forgot about his daddy's warning on giving Kurt a little bit of space and pulled him into a huge hug, feeling Kurt shudder and shake against him as he began to sob loudly. Blaine had heard the door open upstairs, and heard the adults talk in hushed voices before the door closed again. He held Kurt as he cried and cried, the sobs getting quieter and quieter, until it was him just hiccuping and sniffling.

Kurt slowly pulled away from Blaine, and dried his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Her name was Elizabeth," Kurt said, his voice raspy and crackly. Blaine looked down at the photo, which Kurt had just flipped back over to look at. A small little memory tugged at him, he ignored it for that time. Scooting over a bit, he put his head on Kurt's shoulder, almost like to say 'I'm here'. After a few moments, Kurt put his head on top of Blaine's, and started to tell him stories about his mommy.

Blaine listened as Kurt told him her favorite colour was the sunset, and how she loved to make chocolate chip pancakes with Kurt on Saturday mornings before his dad woke up. He patiently said nothing as Kurt told him how she used to take him to the park by their house every day before he had to attend school, and how she would take him every Sunday afternoon when he was in school. He watched how animated Kurt would get talking about how they would swing and race to see who could reach the sky. He held Kurt's hand as he talked about how she got sick, and got a little better before she got sicker and sicker.

Blaine could only bite his lip as he tried not to cry when Kurt started to cry again, telling him about how everything seemed to just stand still when his mommy died. Kurt's dad hadn't been much better than Kurt, and their Aunt Jamie looked after them for a few weeks before she went back to New York and they moved to this side of Lima. And that's when Blaine remembered what had been nagging at him.

The first day he met Kurt, he named the doll Elizabeth.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: And. Yeah. Hello again! Nothing much to say really, aside from the fact that please do not expect me to update so quickly after I upload the next / latest chapter tomorrow. I do love writing this story though, so you'll probably see weekly updates! Anyways. ONWARD WITH THE FIC (Ignore me I've gotten like no sleep this week at all). _

Blaine could see the glowing numbers from his alarm clock tell him it was way past any time he had ever stood up with Kurt, and couldn't help but find pleasure in that. A new record, he thought proudly to himself before averting his eyes to look at the boy next to him.

"Hi," he whispered quietly, staring into Kurt's very familiar blue eyes. They blinked several times, out of focus, before coming back to Earth and closing.

"Blaine, have you ever... Thought about kissing someone?" Kurt whispered, and Blaine wrinkled his nose. He was nine, but he had never had any thoughts of kissing a girl. Sure, once upon a time, he thought he wanted to kiss Tina, but that was back in the third grade last year when everyone didn't know if girls and boys had cooties or not and decided to find out. He watched Kurt's tongue come out and lick his lips, and his first thought was 'you'.

His eyes widened at the thought, and he shook his head. Kurt must have taken it as a no for his question, and he sighed. "Blaine, you've never thought about kissing someone? Really?" He asked impatiently, and Blaine chuckled softly, forgetting about what he had thought just seconds ago.

"You sound upset," he joked quietly, and Kurt glared at him.

"I'm being serious right now," Kurt whined, and Blaine rolled his eyes.

"I mean, you know I thought about kissing Tina, but we agreed that didn't count really, so..." Blaine said, trailing off at the end. Kurt nodded, before wrinkling his nose. He looked to be thinking hard about something, and Blaine could only imagine what it was. Just when he was going to ask Kurt who he was thinking about kissing, Kurt said something he hadn't exactly expected.

"H-have you ever... Thought about kissing a... Boy?" Kurt asked quietly, his eyes looking down at bed sheet's checkered pattern, chewing on his thumb nail nervously. Blaine didn't know how to answer, seeing how he had just gotten out of the stage where seeing his dads kiss was gross and embarrassing because... Well, they're his dads. Most kids his age totally do not want to see their parents kissing at the breakfast table. He shrugged.

"I don't know. I've never really like, sat myself down and think if I'm like daddy or like Aunt Sadie," Blaine admitted, thinking of his Aunt Sadie and his Uncle Harry who had gotten married five years ago. Scrunching his face up, he thought of himself kissing a guy. He realized that he could see it pretty clearly, even more than a girl. "But I mean, now that I think about it, yeah, sure," Blaine mumbled, before looking at Kurt, "Do you?"

Kurt bit his lip, and nodded slowly. "At lot more than I do with a girl," Kurt told him, his voice quiet and soft. He looked over at Blaine, and he could feel the tears well up in his eyes. "Does this mean that those mean names everyone calls me really are true?"

Blaine's eyes widened, and he shook his head. "Kurt, you know what my dads told you, and what your dad told you. There are mean people in the world. But you aren't useless, or worthless. You're Kurt. Maybe you are gay, maybe you're not. But you're not that... That... That other word," Blaine whispered under his breath, and took Kurt's hand in his own, before repeating, "You're just Kurt."

Kurt sniffed, and his lips turned up at the corners slowly. He squeezed Blaine's hand, and snuggled himself more comfortably into the blankets. "You're the bestest friend I've ever had Blaine," Kurt whispers, and Blaine squeezes back.

"You're the bestest friend I've ever had Kurt," Blaine says with a lopsided smile, which Kurt returns quickly. They lay there in a comfortable silence, listening to each other breathe and sometimes clear their throat when the need came. After a while, Blaine heard Kurt begin to fall asleep, his breathing becoming more and more steady, before, finally, Blaine was sure he was asleep. Moving himself back onto his side, he watched his best friend peacefully sleep, and suddenly felt a sharp pang in his chest.

Kurt had, basically, just come out to Blaine. And even though he was only nine, he knew what that would mean in a few years. Heck, he even knew what it would start to mean even sooner than just a few years. Blaine remembers how when he was a little kid, he was bullied and had no friends because his two dads love each other. And that was just being the son of two dads. Imagining how much worse the bullying would get for Kurt scared him, and he could only let the feeling of wanting to protect Kurt (even though he was a year younger) start to conjure up in him.

He's so fragile, was all Blaine could think to justify his feelings as turned back onto his stomach, finally letting sleep claim his suddenly tired out mind.

* * *

><p>"Blaine!"<p>

Turning around, Blaine could see Kurt walking quickly towards him, waving his hand to get Blaine's attention. But, even without waving his hand, Blaine would probably have zoomed right into him. Kurt had always dressed differently from most boys, but lately he had begun experimenting with different things, like animal print and tassels, so he always stuck out like a sore thumb. A very fashionable sore thumb, Blaine would add with a hint of a smile if asked. He could see Burt walking after Kurt, shopping cart filled with school supplies and different beauty products and household items.

"Kurt," he said with a smile before meeting up with him halfway in the semi crowded Target, forgetting all about his papa who was currently flipping through the catalog he had picked up at the entrance. He pulled the taller boy into a hug, and couldn't help but appreciate the fact that Kurt made sure he didn't smell like locker rooms and dirt like most other boys his age.

"Back to school shopping?" Blaine asked, and Kurt nodded as he smoothed down his shirt.

"Yep," he breathed out, just as his dad was finally wheeling the cart next to him. "We're doing school supplies here, and then going clothes shopping at Macy's," Kurt said happily, before lowering his voice into a mock whisper, and adding, "And then back home where he'll let me borrow his credit card after I find only two things at Macy's, and I'll wreak havoc on eBay."

Burt only grunted at his son's comment, but didn't deny it, seeing how it would probably come true, knowing his son. He said hello to Blaine (which the always dapper Blaine returned), before turning to Leroy and talking to him about the different prices around Lima for school supplies, and then about last weeks freshman parent orientation meeting they had gone to.

"You're so sneaky," Blaine teased, before grinning at Kurt. "How does it feel to know you'll be a freshman at McKinley in just two weeks?"

"Better than Rachel, she's been word vomiting in all of the text's shes been sending me, and leaving me these weird voice messages where she sings a scale and then sings out her feelings," Kurt shakes his head, and Blaine snorts.

"Imagine her at the breakfast table. She literally sang a whole ballad about how nervous she was, and how she shouldn't be since McKinley will likely welcome her and her amazing voice with a warm hug and kiss," Blaine points out, and Kurt sighs.

"She's being too optimistic. And a bit ridiculous," Kurt huffs, and Blaine rolls his eyes.

"You're being too pessimistic," Blaine comments, and Kurt can only look at him.

"You don't get let down as badly in the end," He says quietly, before picking up a shirt with the words 'T00 C00L 4 H0M3W0RK!', and a game console tilted, with a huge game controller and slice of pizza stuck on the shirt in a fashion the person who designed it must have thought as 'abstract'.

"Mother of-," Kurt whimpers, changing the subject. "This is the most horrendous thing I've seen in a while, and I've seen your sister's whole closet."

"Hey! I help her go shopping sometimes," Blaine says, and Kurt looks over his attire twice, before sighing.

"Precisely. Stay there, I'm going to convince Leroy to let me take you shopping one day," Kurt says, spinning on his heel to go interrupt the now heated discussion his father and Leroy were having on the best fishing sites in Ohio.

* * *

><p>Blaine knew it was ridiculous to be nervous. Damn ridiculous, he thought to himself as he cut his vegetarian chicken into smaller pieces (Rachel had been on the war path lately to switch everyone to becoming vegan after she accidentally drank actual milk instead of her normal almond milk, and apparently that meant giving Blaine huge portions of fake meat and hope that he'll find it so delicious he'd join her in her crusade against everything delicious). Rachel was currently talking to their parents about the importance of not eating red meats and animals overall, and talking about how she would settle for everyone becoming vegetarians. Blaine couldn't even muster up the nerve to snort at Rachel's attempt to clear the house of meat, not with how nervous he was.<p>

Obviously, he wasn't hiding his feelings too well, seeing how his dad looked at him with worried eyes.

"Blaine, you okay?" Leroy asked as he politely ate some of the fake chicken his daughter had cooked him. Blaine swallowed, and nodded.

"Yeah dad, I'm gay," Blaine said in a rush, and realized his mistake too late to correct or catch himself. The whole table became silent, with Rachel's mouth still open from her explaining how the food industry tortures animals with cramped living quarters and inhumane conditions. All of a sudden she dropped her fork, and the loud clang made Blaine cringe.

"Well, I'm guessing this is where you guys talk to Blaine or whatever. I have some algebra homework to take care of," Rachel announces, and gets up out of her seat, kissing Blaine on the cheek on her way upstairs. "Love you," she whispers into his ear before heading upstairs, humming some song that Blaine knew she had been singing all week for some musical that McKinley was doing that year. He grinned weakly, and looked at his two dads.

"Ta-da?" He exclaims weakly, his voice rising in pitch, making it sound more like a question than anything. Leroy look amused, while Hiram was pale.

"So, you're gay," Leroy stated, and Blaine nodded. He looked over at his papa, and couldn't help but think that shade of white couldn't have meant anything good (nor could it be particularly healthy). He waited for him to say something (or at least point at his throat and claim he was choking), and as soon as he heard the frantic tone in his father's voice, Blaine realized he could have gone a little longer with the silence.

"Well, how do you know, I mean, Blaine, you're only twelve, and, well, you haven't kissed anyone have you, and oh my God-" Hiram said, his voice getting higher and higher as he obviously thought of all the things Blaine could have done. Just when Blaine was sure he was about to be mortified by wherever his father was going with this, Leroy put his hand on his husband's shoulder.

"Hiram," he said softly, squeezing Hiram's shoulder, and Hiram stopped talking. The two of them shared a look, and Hiram sighed. Blaine couldn't help but look down at his plate, which was pretty empty except for the pieces of chicken he had been putting off eating. Leroy looked down at his own plate, and then at his husband's. Shaking his head, he got up and went over to the phone.

"I'm going to order pizza, I refuse going to bed another night hungry," Leroy whispers as quietly as he could, and cringed when he heard the 'I heard that!' come upstairs.

"Sorry honey!" Leroy called back, but he mouthed the word 'God help us' at Blaine, making him crack a smile. Hiram let out a meek laugh, and all three males could hear the distinct 'hmph' come from upstairs.

"Pepperoni, or should we go all out with a Meat Lovers Stuffed Crust pizza tonight boys?" Leroy asked as he started to punch in the number for the local pizza place, while Hiram got up, situating himself behind Blaine, his hands on his shoulders.

"Blaine, why don't you pick?" He says, and while Blaine doesn't miss the tired tone in his voice, he does let out the breath he had been holding in.

"Going all out sounds great, I haven't had a decent dinner all week," Blaine mock whispers out, and he heard Rachel stomp down the steps before he saw her.

"You all suck," Rachel announced, sitting down at the table again, crossing her arms. Leroy finished ordering the pizza, and rubs his daughter's shoulders when he made his way over to her.

"Sweetie, we're men who appreciate animal products," Leroy tells his daughter, who immediately grimaced in response.

"At least stop buying milk cartons that look like my milk carton?" Rachel asks with a dejected sigh, and Leroy nods seriously.

"We'll start to buy our milk in plastic gallon containers," Hiram adds in, and Rachel's lips tug up slightly.

"Finally, the reign of horrific pictures of sad animals asking us for help and gross ingredient lists of fast food meat choices is over," Blaine mumbles, leaning back in his chair. Rachel looks at him innocently, before asking, "Blaine, how did you figure out you're gay again?"

Leroy sighs as Hiram starts to shoot question after question at Blaine, ranging from if he has a boyfriend to if he has kissed a guy, going so far as to asking if Kurt was Blaine's boyfriend, which caused his son to instantly blush and stammer out that Kurt wasn't gay, and glare at Rachel when she let out a small giggle.

"Hiram, he's twelve," Leroy warned his husband, and Hiram looked over to Leroy with a glare.

"Do you remember how you were when you were twelve? I haven't forgotten the stories Sadie told me that time she was drunk at our wedding," Hiram reminded Leroy, and Blaine perked up.

"What stories?" He asked eagerly, hoping to get the attention of him. Hiram shook his head.

"You'll hear them when your aunt gets drunk at Rachel's Bat Mitzvah this year," Hiram tells him, while Leroy glared at him.

"We agreed Sadie isn't allowed near the bar this year. Not after the catastrophe at my cousin Eliezer's sons Bar Mitzvah last year," Leroy reminded Hiram, and Rachel interrupted the developing argument between her two fathers.

"This isn't about Sadie and her love for spirits, this is about Blaine," She pointed out, but before Hiram could say anything else, the front doorbell rings.

Saved by the bell, Blaine thought as the waft of meats and cheese started to make its way through the house. Rachel's face instantly showed her displeasure, and she immediately excused herself upstairs to read about about 'more dramatic coming out stories'. Leroy rolled his eyes at his daughter's dramatic nature, and looked over at Blaine with a grin.

"Well, congrats son," He says, before his grin softened into a smile.

"Thanks for telling us Blaine. Your father's just not adjusting well to you kids growing up so quickly," Leroy said quietly, just as Hiram came in with a large pizza box. He looked conflicted for a moment, before sighing.

"Your father makes me out to seem so dramatic," He mumbled under his breath as he sets the pizza on the counter. As soon as he was out of ear shot in the kitchen, Leroy leaned toward his son, and whispered, "Like father, like daughter."

"We heard that!"

* * *

><p>"Yes, Kurt, they just ordered pizza while pops asked if you were my boyfriend and if I had ever kissed a guy," Blaine told Kurt for the tenth time as he rolled onto his back, staring up at the night sky painted ceiling that him and Kurt had painted together when the Anderson-Berry's renovated their home a year ago. It wasn't perfect, but in Blaine's eyes, it was the closest it could get to being so.<p>

"Wait, what? You left out the part where they thought I was your-" Kurt shrieked, before adding in a whisper, "-boyfriend!". Blaine laughed, and was sure that Kurt was glaring at his own ceiling at that moment. "Blaine Everett Anderson, I am not amused," Kurt mumbled, and the static-y sound of him letting out a deep breath sounded over the phone connection.

"Well, look on the bright side," Blaine said.

"What bright side?" Kurt almost snorted out, and Blaine shrugged, before realizing Kurt couldn't see him.

"Um, the bright side of my ceiling that I accidentally painted white?" Blaine asked, and Kurt snorted.

"Blaine, don't even mention that, it took me more than an hour to try and fix that corner, but I could only get it a few shades lighter than the rest before your dad told us we needed to let it dry," Kurt said dryly, before letting out a small laugh.

"Blaine, you suck," Kurt told him, and Blaine frowned.

"You know, Rachel told me that earlier. I don't like this trend," Blaine groans out, and he could practically hear the smile in Kurt's voice.

"Stop giving us reason to say it then."

"You both suck. A lot."

"Goodnight Blaine."

"G'night Kurt, love ya."

"Love you too. Now go to sleep, remember I'm taking you out shopping tomorrow for the Sadie Hawkins dance and to make sure your whole wardrobe doesn't consist of you looking like a cross between Pee-Wee Herman and a five year old. You'll need the energy."

"Evil takes a human form in Kurt Hummel."

"Oh shut up, I'm hanging up now so you can get your much needed beauty sleep."

"I'm beyond offended Hummel."

"I say the same each time you wear a sweater vest, a bow tie, and khaki's more than two days in a row."

"I'm hanging up now."

"Blaine you still haven't hung up yet."

"Don't make me."

"Such empty threats."

"Kurt you're mean… Wait, did you really just hang up on me? Oh, I've so got you tomorrow morning," Blaine mumbles as he sets the phone down onto his bed side table, already planning on eating at the worst place he could think of for breakfast tomorrow : Peggy's Diner. Kurt would kill him, but that'll show him that the Anderson-Berry's didn't play around.


	3. Chapter 3

_ A/N: Hello there again! So someone brought up a good point last chapter, and I was like flipping out over it for a good few hours before I finally got the chance to read the chapter over and go through my notes / outline. Blaine's birthday in this verse is September 12th, and him and Rachel are back in school at this point. In the county I live in (Oh, and I live in Maryland, United States), we return to school the last week of August normally, and so I'm saying it's like the second week of middle school for Blaine, meaning he turns thirteen after the 'yeah I'm gay' scenario by a few days. Just for the curious reader, and for anyone else who had been scratching their head like 'But Blaine's already younger than our liking, WHAT IS THIS BLACK MAGIC'. Also, a heads up. Trigger warning for this chapter dealing with physical assault._

Leroy looked at his son through the mirror, smiling as Blaine fidgeted in his suit and readjusted his bow tie for the hundredth time that night.

"Son, you look fine," Hiram said from the doorway, and Blaine couldn't help but grimace.

"Dad, you have to say that, youre... Well, you're my dad," Blaine mumbled as he glared at his bow tie through the mirror, his fingers tugging at it. Leroy sighs, and slaps Blaine's hands away from his neck gently.

"Cut that out before you undo it. Chase is going to be here in a few minutes, and would you prefer having him see you with your bow tie looking nice, or undone and messy?" Leroy reminds Blaine, and he let out a noise between a growl and a sigh.

"Blaine, calm down, you're gonna give yourself a heart attack," Rachel said as she passed his bedroom, before backtracking and standing in the doorway next to Hiram.

"Holy crap Blaine," Rachel gasped before giggling, causing Blaine to turn towards her, freaking out.

"What? Do I have something in my teeth? Is there a stain somewhere? Oh my God, I look like a clown don't I, I shouldn't ha-" Blaine rambled as he moved to take off his suit jacket, and Hiram just rolled his eyes and stepped towards Blaine. He fussed with Blaine for a few seconds, before just settling to grab his hands and making his arms lie straight against his body at the side.

"There. Now go downstairs, I think I heard the doorbell ring while you were occupied showing Rachel your teeth," Hiram told his youngest child, and instantly Blaine was jumping the steps two at a time and, if Hiram was hearing correctly, swearing under his breath.

"Since when did he collect such a beautiful and vast vocabulary?" Leroy mumbled under his breath as he made his way out of the room behind Rachel, his husband following him downstairs (Blaine had practically begged Rachel to stay in her room when Chase come over, saying she could meet him when they came back from the dance).

"From where is my question of the hour," Hiram replied smoothly as they heard the nervous whispers from the front door travel up the staircase, the soft laughter breaking the sounds of breathless talking every few seconds. Both men couldn't help but adopt a small fond smile on their faces, and they both turned to each other.

"Reminds me of my first date," Leroy whispers softly, and Hiram nods.

"I can't believe our baby's growing up so quickly," Hiram replied quietly, and Leroy smiles, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

"And yet you still look as dashing as ever," Leroy tells him, just as they reached the bottom of the steps. They watched as Blaine clumsily pinned the corsage he got Chase onto his suit jacket (Chase must have pinned Blaine's on before they got there, judging from the white orchard and rose corsage on Blaine's suit jacket).

"Hello Mr. and Mr. Anderson-Berry," Chase says happily as soon as Blaine is done, turning toward the married couple with his hand out. Both men shook hands with the chipper young man, and Blaine smiled nervously from next to him.

"Dad, Pops. This is Chase," Blaine said, introducing his parents to his date. Both men nodded, with Leroy smiling and Hiram radiating seriousness. Blaine had to stiffle a snort at how his Pops loved to be the 'strict and stern' parent of the two, but he always became a huge teddy bear in the end.

"Be back by ten," Hiram warned the couple, and Blaine nods. It was actually later than his normal curfew (9 P.M.), and he was kinda surprised his dad had given him an extra thirty minutes after the dance was supposed to be done.

"We'll be back by nine thirty at the most," Chase replied, and Hiram beamed at the young man.

"I knew I liked you," He said, and Leroy quickly steped in to advert his husband from embarrassing their son before his first (and at the rate Hiram was going, last) date.

"Come on, I'll give you guys a ride over. Just call me when you're ready to leave, okay Blaine?" Leroy says, directing the last part at his son. Blaine nods quickly, catching on to what his dad was doing.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks dad," Blaine grins, and he turned to Chase. "Ready?"

"Yep," Chase says with a grin of his own to match Blaine's. Hiram watched as his son exited the house on his very first date, with what appeared to be a fairly polite and nice young man. Least he has a seemingly good taste in boys, Hiram thinks to himself as he made his way into the kitchen to start on dinner for him and Leroy. Rachel was going over to Kurt's for a sleepover tonight, and he had made plans to have a surprise romantic night in with his husband.

He kissed the top of Rachel's head when she came down to tell him she was heading over to Kurt's house, and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when his eldest child closed the front door.

"Time to get the candles out," Hiram said to himself, looking at the check list he had made himself earlier that week to make sure everything went smoothly tonight.

* * *

><p>Blaine could hear Chase yell and scream, but he couldn't bear the idea of trying to move even his own mouth. The amount of blood that was almost pouring out of his mouth (or around it- he couldn't tell) didn't help the notion. He couldn't even whisper for them to stop, or even for help, like he had been before a foot came in to contact with his face.<p>

Everything was getting darker and darker, more and more out of focus as his eyes closed for longer and longer periods of times. Sweat and blood stung his eyes when he opened them, but Blaine knew he didn't want to see what was about to happen.

He felt trapped within his own body at that point, wishing he could just run away and get help. He surely hadn't been able to make sure Chase would run to safety. He couldn't even curl in on himself to provide some feeling of safety; even his fingers screamed at him with the littlest flinch.

Blaine was waiting for the first blow to sound, for the first howl of pain to haunt him. But instead, all he heard was the sound of a door opening, and heavy footsteps run towards them quickly.

No more, he thought to himself. Oh God, no more.

"Hey, you all!"

The unfamiliar and deep voice made Blaine's heart flutter with hope. Help. Help had finally come, he thought to himself as he heard the scraping sound of brand new dress shoes running pass right by him. He let out ghost of a whimper when he felt someone crush his hand in the process, and swore he saw only red for a quick second. He could hear Chase crying, and him saying 'leave us alone' over and over again.

"Punk ass kids... Hey you a- Son, are you alright?"

Everything was fading in and out now, but he hadn't been too far gone to miss the long string of explicits that the man had let out as pieces began to fall in place as Chase tried his hardest to tell him what had happened in between his broken sobbing. Blaine heard the sudden commotion going on around him as a woman joined them (someone he could only guess as the man's wife), and he certainly hadn't missed the sharp intake of breath and shrill scream when they had seen him up close.

His body was beginning to feel less and less in pain, and more and more numb. Blaine could feel a hand grab on to his, and he wondered just how bad he looked. Couldn't be that bad right? A bit of blood here and there, a couple of scratches on him. Nothing major.

Even at that exact moment, with his brain treading the line between consciousness and unconsciousness, Blaine could tell how much of an unrealistic hope that was.

"Hang in there, the ambulance is coming soon," was the last thing he heard before he blacked out for good.

* * *

><p>"Leroy, I knew I shouldn't have let him go."<p>

"Hir, calm down, he's okay now. We can't let him wake up and have him see us freaking out."

"Lee, I know, but... God, someone touched our little boy. They hurt him Leroy, and I'll be damned if I don't do a-"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, Dr. Shands, hello!"

"Hello Mr. Anderson-Berry. Just wanted to pop on in here and check on Blaine's stitches and IV very quickly on my way to a department meeting."

"Oh, yes, sure. Thank you doctor."

Blaine groaned as he felt a light pressure on his forehead, and he immediately felt a pressure on his hand. His first thought was 'holy crap that hurts like hell', and his second was on why he felt so sore.

"Blaine, are you awake? Can you hear me?"

"Oh, honey, open your eyes, please. Squeeze my hand. Do something."

After a few moments of silence, Blaine opened his eyes quickly, but shut them tightly with a groan as the lights burned them. He could hear his papa tell someone to shut 'the damn lights off', and he was soon being cajoled to open them again.

"God," Blaine croaks out as he opens his eyes again, much slower than he had before. He blinked them several times, to make all the shapes and lines stop blurring everything together. Once he had gotten adjusted to seeing for the first time in what felt like ages (as well as adjusting to seeing in the now semi dark room) he saw his two fathers looking at him with tight smiles.

"Blaine, how do you feel?" Leroy asked his son quietly, and Blaine grimaced.

"Like crap," He whispered, his throat not allowing him to go any louder than that. Immediately, the doctor took the hint, and began to pour Blaine a glass of water from the pitcher at his bed side table. Meanwhile, his papa was currently rubbing Blaine's hand in between in his own, and looked ready to cry.

"Blaine, do you remember what happened?" Hiram asked slowly and carefully, unsure of how Blaine would react. He wrinkled his nose, and suddenly, it all started coming back to him. Getting to the dance and saying bye to his dad. Dancing with Chase and drinking punch with him when they finally chose to sit down and catch their breath. Going for a short walk with Chase outside, the cool night air and full moon being too beautiful to pass up. The boys coming towards them. Yelling. Punching. Kicking. Him trying to protect Chase. Him failing. He could remember that much. He could practically still feel the cold asphalt underneath him, still feel the fear aid his body to paralyze him to his spot on the ground.

"Breathe, Blaine, breathe," Leroy murmured as Blaine began to hyperventilate, and the doctor put his hand on Blaine's shoulder. Blaine instantly flinched away from the touch, but his heart stopped racing as hard, his breathing slowing down to a normal pace.

"Drink some water Blaine, it'll do you some good. The police will be around to take an incident report from you later, okay?" Dr. Shands told him, and Blaine couldn't help but be a bit annoyed by how calm the doctor was. Something about it just pissed him off. Everything seemed to piss him off. Him being in the hospital. Him being beat up for being who he was. Him not even being able to go to a fucking dance without this happening.

Before he knew it, he could feel his father brush a tear off his cheek. Instantly, the anger deflated to sadness.

"Doctor, can we be left alone with our son please?" Leroy asked quietly, and the doctor nodded before showing himself out. Hiram immediately settled himself onto the bed, holding Blaine in his arms as he started to crack.

Blaine couldn't help it. Everything just seemed so unfair at that moment. Every unfair thing that he could remember happening to him played through his mind (Rachel getting the last fudge pop, being bullied for who his fathers were, Rachel getting a later bedtime, being bullied for dressing so 'faggy like', being made fun of because of who he was), as well as anything unfair that he could possibly think of (his fathers couldn't get married, he couldn't get married, gay people couldn't served in the military, he could never give blood as a donor) just seemed to keep popping up. Every little thing that could help fuel his feelings of self pity and melancholy came to mind. His shoulders shook as he cried into his father's shoulder, before he remembered.

"Chase?" He said frantically as he pushed himself away from his papa and his father's shared a look. Leroy sighed before turning to face Blaine.

"Chase walked away with just a few bruises because of you and Mr. Herold, who broke it up. But-." Blaine did not like the look on his father's face at that exact moment at all "-Honey, his family moved out from Lima yesterday," Leroy said slowly, and Blaine didn't know what to feel. Anger that Chase had left. Pity for himself. Happiness because Chase was okay. Sadness because he would never feel safe at his school, or around any of the people that went to school with him. Not after this.

Hopeless. He felt hopeless. He looked around the room, and at his father's faces. They looked tired as ever, and he was pretty sure his father, who never had stubble – ever – hadn't shaved in days.

"How- how long have I been here?" Blaine asked, his voice still soft as to not irritate his throat further. Hiram poured him more water as Leroy looked out the window, his arms crossed against his chest. Blaine's temper suddenly became as short as a bomb fuse, and his hands curled into fists.

"How long have I been here?" Blaine demanded, and both men looked at their son as if he had grown three heads all at once. Blaine suddenly realized he had banged on the bedside table next to him, and a box of tissue encased in a fancy metal one fell onto the ground with a loud clank. Blaine let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding in, and looked down.

"I'm sorry," He mumbled, and he could tell his father's were having one of their silent conversations again. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and a reassuring squeeze told him that they weren't upset at him.

"You've been here three days Blaine," Hiram told him, his voice cracking slightly. "You had a fractured rib, two broken fingers, needed stitches on your lip and temple, and had some bad brain swelling. It... It didn't look good the first hour or two that we were here for. You woke up a few times - although I'm pretty sure you were so out of it you probably don't even remember it - but after you had a seizure the fourth t-time, they h-had-"

"They had to sedate you for a little while," Leroy finished, rubbing his husbands shoulders. Blaine looked down at himself, and started noticing just how badly things had gotten. There were scratches on his hands, and gauze where he was pretty sure someones heel had twisted back and forth to make the concrete scrape against his skin. Two of his fingers were, indeed, broken, and were set in splints on his other hand. The painkillers they must have me on must be pretty out of this world, Blaine thought bitterly as he continued his survey of all the damage.

Lifting a hand shakily, he touched his temple, where the tell tale signs of raised nylon needlework told him it wasn't a small cut he had gotten. His bottom lip told the same story, and Blaine didn't even want to touch himself anywhere near his ribs, none the less his chest. Breathing felt painful, as if he had swallowed glass, and it somehow had gone down his larynx. His entire body ached, in all actuality.

"Blaine?"

Blinking, Blaine came back to reality, and noticed both of his parents looking at him looking concerned.

"You ok? Do we need to call Dr. Shands back? You did have a concussion and brain swelling and, oh God, do you remember your name and-" Hiram said, his voice rising as he was edging closer and closer to hysterical. Again, Leroy interrupted him.

"Honey, breathe. Just breathe," He reminded him, before turning to Blaine. "You alright? The doctor did say you might be a bit disoriented when you first woke up."

"Daddy, I'm ok," Blaine lied, and Hiram looked at him with the look that he had reserved for his younger child whenever he came back lying about how he tripped and fell, and how lost his new toy truck somewhere in the bushes. But, he didn't call him out on it, just like he hadn't when he saw the neighborhood boys play with the exact same truck that Hiram was positive he had just bought Blaine the other day.

It was quiet for a few minutes, as Leroy paced in front of the windows, and Hiram situated himself so that Blaine could lean on his shoulder if he wanted to. He gladly did, and let out a small sigh of content as his father began to, very lightly, mess with his curls, like he had when Blaine had been a little kid. He closed his eyes and let himself get lost in the familiar feeling, and almost fell asleep.

Almost being the key word. He felt a small nudge come from his father, and he opened his eyes lazily.

"Whaaaat?" Blaine whined, and a small smile played out on Leroy's face.

"Me and your father were talking, and a coworker of his told us... Well, here," Leroy said, before suddenly pulling something papers and... Brochures out of his pocket. Brochures? Blaine's eyebrows knitted together, and Hiram took the papers before handing them over to Blaine.

There was a picture of a gate and an assortment of gorgeous buildings behind it on the very first brochure he saw. Trees surrounded it, and if he wasn't mistaken, a football field was visible just where the brochure ended. One word jumped out automatically from everything else, the blue and red lettering somehow meshing just right with the gorgeous landscape pictures above it, the light crème coloured banner it was set on possibly the reason why.

DALTON ACADEMY

He looked at his father's confused, and Hiram gently took the brochure and opened it before handing it back over to Blaine. He scanned through the brochure as quickly as he could, and everything began to make more and more sense as he finished the first paragraph.

_Dalton Academy is a prestigious, all male boarding school in Westerville, Ohio. An institution that has been run since 1951, Dalton provides the best professors in the region at the junior high and high school level, as well as the widest selection of courses in all of Ohio. At Dalton, there is a strict implemented bullying policy, which covers students from all walks of life and backgrounds, to ensure a safe and healthy school environment for all._

He looked over the rest of the pamphlet, which told him all about the different courses and programs at Dalton, including their fairly impressive catalog of two hundred plus clubs and organizations on the campus. He had been relieved to see that there was a student drop in program for those who lived close enough to the school, but then he realized. Westerville was a little over an hour and a half away. There was no way he'd be able to keep up the commute for the rest of his school career. And then he remembered the other thing that was nagging at him.

Kurt.

He had been looking forward to seeing and being in the same school as Kurt again in the fall. They had always promised each other they'd take high school by storm together. But... Blaine knew this was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. He wasn't even sure his father's would let him, to tell the truth.

"We're... Well, we're not going to force you to go here Blaine. But, it would certainly make us feel a lot better about your safety and well being," Leroy said quietly, and Hiram nodded.

Blaine looked down at the rest of the papers, and saw the tuition. Instantly, he wanted to protest, but he saw the scrawl his dad had perfected over the years to make sure it was barely legible to anyone outside of the family (which had long since included Burt and Kurt).

_The tuition isn't a problem – Papa and I talked to your grandparents, and they agreed to cover half the cost. They actually were more than willing to pay for you to go to a private school in NJ. Your choice Blaine._

Sighing, Blaine read the rest of the papers. Or, he tried to. A small pounding in his head began to start up, and he squinted to make sense of the text in front of him. Leroy must have noticed, because the papers were quickly out of his hands and on the night table.

"Rest," Leroy said, and Hiram cleared his throat.

"We can talk about this some more tomorrow Blaine. You're not due back in school for another week at least, so you have time," Hiram told him, and kissed the top of Blaine's head before getting up. Leroy closed the curtains, hiding the twilight, cloud ridden sky. Both men promised they'd back back to check on Blaine in the morning, and bring Rachel and Kurt with them. Blaine nodded, and hid his urge to grimace at the thought of his sister and best friend seeing him like this.

At least they didn't see you when Mr. Holden or Harold or Henley or whatever his name is found you, Blaine thought darkly to himself, I must have been quite the sight.

Looking over at the papers, he could already tell he had long since made his decision. With a sigh, he rolled over and brought the blankets around him, trying to fall asleep to the soundtrack of a hospital playing in the background. The sounds of slippers sliding across the linoleum floors of the hallway, the constant beeping telling him and everyone with a beeper in the ward that he was, indeed, alive, and the random roll and squeak of a wheelchair or a hospital bed in motion all lulled him to sleep as his last thoughts strayed to one phrase.

How am I going to tell Kurt?


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N : Hey guys. Sorry about the long wait, life (school, really), has been hectic. But, the quarter is winding down, and spring break is here, and I am just like crying tears of joy (and then actual tears when I look at my WIP folder). Anyhow, here it is!_

* * *

><p>Blaine looked at the shapes and numbers in front of him, letting out a frustrated sigh that sounded more like a growl.<p>

"Why do I have to do this when I'm not even going back to that stupid school?" Blaine asked as he picked his pencil back up, just as Leroy closed the book he had just been reading with a soft thump.

"Because, you're already behind by Daltons standards. I spoke to the headmaster, and he showed me the curriculum your Geometry class is going by. They're learning about how to find angles and sides for polygons as a whole, while you're still looking at triangles," Leroy reminded his son, and Blaine pouted. Leroy took one long look at him, before sighing and taking his schoolbooks and shoving them back into Blaine's backpack.

"Don't tell your papa, he was adamant on you crunching numbers all afternoon before Kurt swung by," Leroy told Blaine, who nodded.

"I spent all afternoon whining and bemoaning my Geometry homework while you watched," Blaine said, and Leroy smiled.

"Exactly," he said, before pausing. "Actually, we might not have to lie after all-"

"Blaine, you had better be presentable, Kurt's here," Rachel chimed as burst through the door like a hurricane. She immediately went to kiss her father on the cheek before dumping her school bag on the floor and practically attacking Blaine.

"Sweetie, I know you're excited to see him, but-" Leroy said cautiously, and Blaine was sure he was going to fall off the bed when a high, lithe voice spoke.

"Rachel, calm down, you're going to pull his stitches and make him stay here even longer," Kurt said as he stepped into the room, a grimace on his face. Kurt had hated hospitals since he had been a kid, but had insisted on visiting Blaine.

"You're welcome to join me," Rachel said brightly, beginning to settle down on the bed next to Blaine, who was near ready to push her off the bed. She turned to Blaine, about ready to say something, when she caught the obvious death glare he was sending her. With a sigh, she got off the bed, and began to mumble about 'unappreciative younger brothers' as she sat down in one of the visitor chairs next to the window.

Kurt greeted Leroy with a hug, before turning to Blaine. His lips turned up slightly, and he sat down next to Blaine on the bed. Rachel huffed as Blaine leaned on Kurt, and Leroy laughed.

"Come on Rachel, come get some coffee with me," Leroy said, and Rachel looked up with a grin.

"Really? But papa said I'm not allowed to have coffee re-" Rachel started to say, before Leroy sighed and put his index finger against her mouth.

"I can already tell Mercedes dad probably took you both to Starbucks this morning judging from how riled up you are," Leroy grinned, and Rachel blushed.

"I-well-what-and," Rachel stammered out, and Leroy laughed before placing an arm around her. He started to lead her and himself out, only pausing to look back at boys.

"Coffee?" He asked them, and Kurt nodded.

"Grande nonfat mocha please," He called out, and Blaine shook his head. Leroy nodded, and the last thing Kurt and Blaine heard was Rachel telling Leroy about somebody named Quinn, Kurt rolling his eyes at the name. The door closed swiftly behind them, leaving Kurt and Blaine alone.

"How you've been?" Kurt asked quietly as he crossed his legs together criss-cross apple sauce style, looking down at his lap as he spoke. Blaine sighed.

"Good. Everything is more or less back to normal. I have another six weeks until my fingers and rib are back to normal, but I get the stitches out tomorrow before I get discharged," Blaine said with a weak smile.

"That's good," Kurt mumbled as he started to draw patterns on the sheets of Blaine's bed. Blaine watched as he drew loops and lines and whirls, before softly grabbing Kurt's hand.

"Hey, look at me?" Blaine said, and Kurt sniffed as he looked up. Blaine remembered the feeling he had gotten the first he had seen Kurt's eyes- surprise and wonder at how eyes could even _begin_ to look like that. At that moment though, Blaine was feeling dread and a pit quickly growing in his stomach.

Kurt's eyes were red, tears threatening to occur in a downpour at any given moment. His mouth was in a tight line, wobbling and shaking, strangled noises coming out quietly every time Kurt was forced to take a deep breath.

"B-Blaine, I was so, so worried w-when your d-dad came over and talked to my dad, and I-I-" Kurt whispered out, stumbling and stammering as he began to feel his chest constrict. He let his sentence die as he began to cry, and Blaine began to feel his own eyes prick and water up.

"Kurt, come here," Blaine mumbled as he pulled Kurt into a hug, ignoring the small yelp his rib made when Kurt latched on tightly. He felt Kurt shake into him, his breathing ragged and broken up.

"Blaine I am so, so sorry," Kurt whispered, and Blaine couldn't help but shake as he felt sobs of his own well up in him. He had done his fair share of crying when his father's had gone home when visiting hours were over (now that he wasn't in critical condition, regular visiting hours had been implemented), or when he was all alone and didn't have much to occupy himself with.

But, somehow, this made him just let out everything. He had cried. He had shed tears here and there. But had hadn't come close to sobbing the way he was at that moment. They stayed like that for what felt like hours to Blaine, but when he looked over at the clock as they pulled away from each other, had been mere minutes.

"I'm going to miss you," Kurt said as he sniffed and wiped his tears off his cheeks, and Blaine swore under his breath as he reached blindly for the tissue box on the nightstand.

"Rachel and her big mouth," Blaine mumbled to himself as he finally got purchase on the box, putting it in between him and Kurt. They both reached for a tissue at the same time, and they both giggled nervously.

"This sucks," Blaine said after they had both taken the time to calm themselves down. It was that moment that he fully came to appreciate how his eyes didn't get red when he cried, or afterwards. Kurt's eyes looked as if they had been on full display in front of scorching heat lamps for hours.

"Yeah, it does," Kurt sighed, before looking at Blaine with a sad smile.

"I guess Rachel will have to take your place in our grand plan for high school," Kurt said, and Blaine made a face.

"You mean she'll attempt to take my place," Blaine humphed, and Kurt nodded, placing a hand on his chest.

"I apologize for my mistake. She will attempt to take your place, but fail miserably," Kurt laughed out, and Blaine couldn't help but laugh along.

Soon enough, Blaine found himself laying down on his back next to Kurt, who was doing the same, staring up at the ceiling with the lights off. He had been placed in pediatrics as soon as he was ready to be wheeled out of the ICU, and had been amused to find that they had put glow in the dark stars up on the ceiling. As soon as he had told Kurt, he had insisted they star gaze.

"These aren't even accurate depictions of the stars," Kurt whined, and Blaine laughed.

"I have to admit, the big dipper does look pretty crooked, but come on Kurt. These guys majored in medicine and biology, not astronomy and interior design," Blaine nudged Kurt in the side, and Kurt rolled his eyes.

"It is simple to do some research and not pay attention to what you're doing Blaine," Kurt mumbled. "Of course you would stick up for who ever did this atrocious and very much inaccurate depiction of the night sky, Mr. White Paint."

"And to think I was willing to do all of our wild and insane plans," Blaine tutted, and Kurt snickered.

"You call cutting class to go to IHOP and then going to Columbus to shop wild and insane?" Kurt asked as he laughed, and Blaine looked at him, before cracking up himself.

"You know, you could always come visit me at Dalton. Columbus is less than a half hour drive from there, and we could always go shopping then," Blaine suggested after they both calmed down, wheezing slightly from what he could only guess was his rib finally taking revenge over it's rough afternoon. Kurt frowned at the sound, but knew it wasn't anything too alarming.

"We could," Kurt agreed, his voice soft.

Their hands had found each other while Kurt had been complaining over how the canis major was crooked and misshapen, and was a reminder of how just how close they were. They had been best friends for seven years, ever since Rachel had practically dragged Kurt away from Burt and the moving truck the first day he stepped foot in their neighborhood. And now here they were, Blaine going to a school an hour and a half away from home without Kurt by his side.

Squeezing his hand gently, Blaine somehow just knew that Kurt had been thinking the same thing when he felt him squeeze back. The constant pressure of Kurt holding his hand was reassuring and comforting. It reminded him of when they both were learning to ride bikes. When one of them fell, the other would hold their hand while whichever dad on duty would patch their scrape right up and tell them to get back up and try again. Blaine smiled lazily at the memory, before yawning.

"Ugh, being in the hospital has turned me into a five year old," Blaine complained as he stretched his legs out on the bed, and Kurt looked at him.

"You already were a five year old, I don't see what changed," Kurt teased, before yawning himself. "God, I don't even know why I'm so tired."

"You've been too worried about me and have laid in bed awake all night thinking of me."

"You've been watching too many soap operas."

"Excuse me, Days of our Lives is too classy of a show to be talked of with such a tone."

"Blaine do you hear yourself sometimes?"

"Sometimes."

Blaine shrugged. The only thing that played during the daytime that wasn't news or boring PBS specials were soap operas, and Days of Our Lives was the only thing that didn't make Blaine grit his teeth and pull his hair out. But, it was a hell of a lot better than doing the pointless huge mound of schoolwork his papa had smacked down onto the night table after visiting Lima Middle. Yawning again, Blaine wriggled under the covers, and held up the blankets.

"Nap time," He said, and Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Blaine, this is a hospital bed, not some kind of communal sleeping bag," Kurt complained as Blaine ignored him, tugging the blankets so they were both under them. When Kurt yawned again, this one louder and longer than the last, Blaine gave him a pointed look.

"Oh, fine," Kurt grumbled as he turned his body slightly, getting comfortable. "If we get yelled at, I'm blaming it all on you."

Blaine laughed, and just snuggled into Kurt's side like he did whenever they had sleepovers. Kurt glared at him, before sighing and relaxing into the warm body next to him.

"Blaming you," Kurt mumbled as he began to drift into sleep, with Blaine humming his approval.

"Bed. Brainwashed. And. Squirrels. And. Wow. G'night," He slurred back, already getting to the point where his thoughts were chopped up. Kurt smiled, having heard this type of gibberish before all too frequently from Blaine right before they really fell asleep for the night at sleepovers.

Kurt fell asleep, Leroy coming back in just minutes later, clutching a travel box of coffee in hand. Rachel poked her head in, and frowned.

"So I can't get on the bed, but Kurt can sleep in it?" Rachel whispered, and Leroy laughed softly.

"Oh Rachel," was all he could say, knowing she'd get in a year or two. Closing his eyes, he stepped out of the room, and Rachel crossed her arms.

"Let's let them get some rest. And be glad Blaine didn't get upset over you telling Kurt about Dalton," Leroy said, warning Rachel when she opened her mouth to protest. She sighed, and closed the door.

"It just slipped out!" She exclaimed, and Leroy could see just how much of Hiram there was in Rachel at that exact moment. Both had, for lack of a better phrase, big mouths. Ruffling her hair slightly, Leroy smiled.

"I know sweetie. Come on, let's go look at the gift shop. I remember you telling Papa you wanted to see it sometime," Leroy said, and Rachel brightened up a bit.

"I heard them playing Barbra the other day. How could I not visit an establishment with such high expectations for the music it plays?" Rachel rattled off as she began speed walking down the hallway, stopping only to give her dad a look. "Well? Come on, we haven't got all day daddy."

"Coming sweetie." Leroy watched his eldest child almost jog to the elevator, and shook his head with a smile as he watched her impatiently wait for the lift. Rachel stood there, hands on her hips, foot tapping, mumbling to herself about how 'slow the stupid thing' was taking. Definitely Hiram's daughter. No doubt about it.

* * *

><p>"Where would this go?"<p>

Blaine looked up from where he was busy packing his bow tie collection, to see Kurt holding up one of the few graphic tee's Blaine owned. Kurt watched him frown, before shaking his head.

"Leave them in the closet. I won't really have anywhere to wear them to while I'm at Dalton," Blaine said, closing the small cardboard box he had in hand. With a sigh, Kurt turned back towards the now nearly empty closet. He heard the packaging tape being pulled with a rrrip, and cringed at the sound of it.

He gently put the shirts on their hangers, back into the closet, before closing the double doors. Normally, when he went through Blaine's wardrobe, the closet would rustle against the clothes in protest, the closet ripping at the seam with clothes. But now, it just closed with a small thump as he closed it with more force than it really needed.

"I think that's... That's it," Blaine said quietly, and Kurt closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, before turning around and leaned against the closet.

"It," Kurt said quietly, looking around. "It looks like it is."

They both sat down wordlessly, scooting over to the window that faced Blaine's backyard. Kurt leaned on Blaine, remembering how they used to set up their blanket forts here during their sleepovers with Rachel when they were younger, looking out the window and at the moon. That was how Kurt had gotten inspiration to paint the night sky on the ceiling when the Anderson-Berry's had decided to remodel most of the rooms.

Kurt rested his jaw on top of Blaine's head, wondering just what the next couple of months would bring them. Already in school, he was being bullied. Sure, he had expected it after he heard last year's eighth graders gossip about it after their freshman orientation. He thought he could brave through it all, pay little or no mind to it. But that was back when he thought Blaine would be there with him after that one year. One year. That's what was standing between him and his best friend going through the toils of life together.

But now, things had gotten screwed up big time. He remembered how his heart dropped when his dad had come back in with a crying Rachel after he heard Hiram at the door, wondering what had happened. Truthfully, his first thought had been 'who died'. And then it had become 'who is about to die'. But before he could even get a word out, Rachel ran to the guest bedroom, locking herself in the connected bathroom.

Burt had sighed, took off his hat, and sat down on the couch before he looked Kurt in the eye. His own eyes were blood shot from crying, making Kurt's water up immediately.

"B-buddy, come here. Sit down," Burt said, patting the seat next to him. Kurt had hesitated at first, but when he heard a bang from the bathroom, he slowly sat down next to his dad.

"Now, buddy, Blaine's dad was just over," Burt began saying, his tone gentle and calm. He was speaking slowly, far too slowly for Kurt's liking. "There... There's been an accident. With Blaine."

Kurt stiffened, not even cringing like his father had when they heard another bang from the bathroom, this one sounding louder than the first.

"How bad?" Kurt immediately asked, and Burt rubbed the top of his head.

"I don't know kiddo. His papa just came by to tell Rachel and me, and then had to go to the hospital to meet up with his dad," Burt explained, and Kurt sank into the couch, drawing his knees up to chest.

"Is... Is he going to live?" Kurt whispered, and it was the expression of grief on Burt's face that Kurt had only seen a few times; and those few had been in regards to his mother before they gave up on treatment.

"I... I hope so, buddy," Burt said softly, wrapping an arm around Kurt's shoulders. "I really hope so."

He sighed as he remembered the blur of events after those few minutes that had changed so much. Rachel had stayed the night with them, choosing to camp out in the living room if her father's came back in the middle of the night with news. Kurt had chosen to camp out with her, after staying in bed until one and not being able to even shut his eyes for longer than a few seconds.

It wasn't until five in the morning that Rachel had gotten a text from her dad telling her Blaine was okay, but that he was hurt badly. Burt had come in to see both of them crying silently while Saturday cartoon's played in the background, sharing a tub of ice cream.

Kurt shut his eyes as he felt Blaine shift slightly. Sure, Rachel was his best friend too. He couldn't deny that she was bossy, had a big mouth that didn't know when to shut up, and she was a bit egocentric, but she was still his best friend. But, Blaine was... He was more than just a best friend. He was like a part of Kurt, and Kurt knew he was a part of Blaine. That's just how it always had been, since the first time they played dolls together in Rachel Berry's room.

"Kurt? Blaine? We're ready to start loading up if you guys are done packing!"

Leroy's voice sounded through the house, and Blaine buried his face deeper into Kurt's neck.

"I don't wanna go," Blaine mumbled into Kurt's shoulder, his voice muffled. Kurt sighed, rubbing Blaine's back.

"I know you don't, but come on. It's a hell of a lot better than McKinley. You even get your own room this year," Kurt said, trying to cheer Blaine up. It wasn't working.

"I already have that here," Blaine said blankly, and Kurt closed his eyes. He leaned in, his lips grazing Blaine's forehead.

"Come on, we need to help your dad's pack everything up," Kurt mumbled, getting up and making sure not to hit his head on the window sill like he had a lot back when they were just starting to build blanket forts there. He paused, looking at Blaine expectantly. When he didn't even move a bit, Kurt let out a frustrated sigh-growl.

"Blaine Everett Anderson, you are not going to make me break down crying today, because I swear, red splotchy skin and watery eyes do not go with this outfit," Kurt snapped, without any real venom in his voice. He let out his hand for Blaine to grab onto, and waited.

Right when he thought he'd have to pull Blaine up by himself, Blaine reached for his hand, jumping up and narrowly missing hitting his head.

"Come on, I'll take the suitcases, and you can take the gigantic pile of boxes," Kurt said with a weak smile, and Blaine nodded. Picking up two of the suitcases with ease (Blaine, of course, was quite possibly the only person in Lima with vintage square shaped suitcases), he started toward the door, before Blaine suddenly stopped him short, pulling him into a hug.

The suitcases dropped onto the floor, and Kurt was pulled aback from just how tightly Blaine was clinging on to him. He wrapped his arms around Blaine in response, his own embrace a bit cozier than normal.

He felt Blaine tremble under him, and could only choke back a small whimper when he realized Blaine was crying.

"S-stop crying Blaine," Kurt choked out, taking deep breaths to make sure he didn't cry. "Come on, we have the car ride, and weekends, and breaks-"

Blaine let out a small strangled noise, before whispering, "You're the bestest friend I've ever had, Kurt."

Oh, that is not fair, Kurt thought to himself as tears began to roll down his cheek. He swallowed down a sob, before clutching onto Blaine even tighter. "You're the bestest friend I've ever had, Blaine."

Blaine pulled away first, and began wiping at his eyes with a small laugh.

"Wow, I'm cheesy."

Kurt laughed too, wiping at his cheeks and gently brushing his fingertips against his bottom lashes.

"Hey, I say it first, and I am not cheesy."

Blaine rolled his eyes but smiled, sniffing and picking up the boxes he must have dropped when he had hugged Kurt. Kurt rolled his eyes back, picking up the suitcases from the floor.

"Guys? Come on, you can not still be packing!"

Kurt looked out the door frame, before laughing.

"Come on, your carriage awaits," He said, and Blaine smiled weakly.

"Wait till the guys on my floor realize how much of a Disney fanatic I am."

"Let's hope they don't," Kurt said blandly, cracking a smile when Blaine made a face that made him look like a hurt puppy. He could get through this; they could get through this.

They had to.

* * *

><p><em>I know, it's a bit of a short chapter. But, the next chapter literally consists of snippets of the rest of the year and the summer, and then we get into s1 events from Glee. Yay, now I have to follow canonical story plots. Haha, we'll see how it works out. Thanks for reading~<em>


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